


Electrostatic Rain

by feverbeats



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-06-10
Updated: 2010-06-10
Packaged: 2017-10-10 01:14:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/93609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/feverbeats/pseuds/feverbeats
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If the mind the Master is feeling is the Doctor's, then his enemy is a changed man indeed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Electrostatic Rain

**Author's Note:**

> Title from "Masterfade" by Andrew Bird, which I think could be a hilarious commentary on how Ten is epically miserable. For [](http://batmanboxers.livejournal.com/profile)[**batmanboxers**](http://batmanboxers.livejournal.com/), because she asked. Also, the science and logic behind the time travel in this story is exceptionally dubious.

  
After Adelaide's death, the Doctor thinks of time differently. He skips through it, avoiding death and avoiding thinking too hard about what he's doing when he makes the little changes.

_Snap_, and the TARDIS door opens.

He saves lives. He destroys a few, but only the ones he's allowed to destroy. He's always been careful in this body, but now the care has become strangling. He thinks again and again of going to see Jack. Would Jack still disgust him by being a living fact with a human smile? The Doctor doesn't dare face the possibility that Jack wouldn't upset him at all.

He thinks, occasionally, that if he tried hard enough, he could find a lost piece of timeline in which the Master is still alive. But that would be wrong, and worse, it would be _stupid_. He can't afford to be stupid anymore.

*

The Master, finally acclimated to the body he stole from Tremas, has no such qualms. With a heavily modified and somewhat gutted TARDIS, he sets the coordinates for the future: the _Doctor's_ future. The thrill of doing something so desperately _wrong_ with time is undercut by a hint of dismay. Funny. In his previous body, he was willing to destroy time itself to stay alive, but now he feels less inclined to break the rules. Perhaps something of Tremas still lingers in this body. He laughs and shakes off the thought.

His little experiment will be worth it, to see the look on the Doctor's face. After all, that's the goal of most of his experiments.

He pulls the lever.

A second later, he falls to his knees, clutching his head before he's aware of what he's doing. It feels like the opposite of being punched, as though something has been yanked from his head, leaving a gaping absence. The only sound in his mind is a quiet thudding at the base of his skull, like the beginning of a headache.

After another moment of just breathing and reorienting himself, the Master manages to pinpoint the source of the absence. It's difficult to see, because it's something that's always been there. The collective mindbeat of Time Lords just isn't there. There is only silence, with an odd, dull flare of pain from a corner of the Master's mind.

He frowns and gets to his feet, brushing off his black velvet jacket. If the others are dead, if they're _all_ dead—-He crushes a brief flash of panic and examines the blurry pain in his head again. It's not his own. There's someone else, at least. Although he so recently tried to kill the other Time Lords, the idea of his entire species just being _gone_ is proving unexpectedly jarring.

He wonders for a moment if _he_ did this by playing with time, but he's never been that effective with his little experiments.

Now, to track down the other mind.

*

On Blixarica, the Doctor goes suddenly weak-kneed and clutches at the arm of the Blix elder who is currently trying to arrest him.

"_Master_," he says.

*

The Master's TARDIS easily finds the only other living TARDIS in the universe perched on the edge of a bleak, rocky cliff on Bixarica. When the Master sees the phone box, his hearts lurch with relief. The Doctor is_ alive_. The Master is instantly angry with himself. Of course it's the Doctor; it's always him. If the mind the Master is feeling is the Doctor's, then his enemy is a changed man indeed. He never was much good at consistency.

The Master walks along the edge of the cliff until he comes across the Doctor sitting with his skinny legs dangling into thin air. His hair sticks up and his mind is closed. He doesn't turn around.

The Master laughs and makes a grand, sweeping gesture, taking in the brown and grey landscape. "Not a very subtle metaphor for your mental state, my dear Doctor."

The Doctor stands slowly and looks around, his mouth set in a hard line. He's almost shockingly beautiful, and the Master has to fight a laugh. The Doctor swallows and his throat bobs. "You shouldn't be here," he says.

The look on his face is worth it after all, then. Good. It usually is. "Correct," the Master says, doing his best not to grin. He doesn't particularly like his grin this time around.

The Doctor's face crumples, and before the Master can defend himself, the Doctor is hugging him tightly, nearly lifting him off his feet.

Well, wonderful. The Doctor is mad in this regeneration. "Get _off_," the Master says. "What are you doing?" The Doctor hasn't been so undignified in—well, long enough, anyhow.

The Doctor lets go. "Sorry. Well. I'm not. It's _you_. Look at you. Oh, I've missed you." His smile wobbles as though he's trying to straighten it into a frown, but it doesn't work. The Doctor isn't usually prone to such outbursts.

"You once referred to me as the greatest force for evil in the universe," the Master says carefully.

"More than once, yeah." The Doctor looks rueful. "But that was a long time ago, for me. And now it's just you and me."

The Master glares. As if he hadn't noticed. "It's usually just you and me. Please don't become emotional."

"But they're _dead_\--"

"Finally," the Master snaps. "That's what we've both been trying to achieve for centuries, Doctor. Perhaps you won't admit it, but they're never done us any good. Now that it's just us, we can fight across the stars to our hearts' content."

The Doctor makes a pained expression. "That's—-that's—-"

The Master raises an eyebrow. "Do go on."

The Doctor hesitates for a second before clutching at the Master's sleeve. "Stay."

The Master never thought he'd be on this side of the fight to for time's laws, but there are lengths even he won't go to. The universe has to be kept intact, and seeing the Doctor like this is enough. He's ready to go back. "You know that would be wrong, Doctor. I can't."

"Well. Yeah. But stay." He fingers tighten on the Master's sleeve.

The Masters shuts his eyes and sighs. If the Doctor doesn't stop behaving like this he's going to embarrass both of them. "All right. For a while. But you know there'll be trouble."

"Who's going to get us in trouble now?" the Doctor asks, his expression unreadable.

The Master is starting to feel nothing so much as irritated. "Well, I'm at least staying long enough to disabuse you of the notion that there's something wrong with you. You're the _Doctor_. Whatever you've done, it can't be that bad. I mean, compared to what you usually do."

"I'm not like that anymore," the Doctor snaps, but his mind opens a bit more.

"That's a pity," the Master says. "You were nearly bearable, at times. I don't know how I'll ever live with you now." He watches the Doctor's face. "But I will. I'll stay."

The Doctor smiles: a real, brilliant smile. "I'd nearly forgotten how _nice_ you were."

The Master begins to object, but the Doctor lurches forward and plants a sloppy kiss on his mouth. The Master considers fighting this attack, but that will come after the Doctor has been talked out of standing at the edge of cliffs. "All right, all right," he says, gripping the Doctor's shoulder. "You're all right."

"Yeah," the Doctor says, practically nuzzling the Master. "I am."


End file.
